There’s the part I have and can convey that everyone can see.
You can see me, a ghost before your eyes. I’m a mirage in the snow.
There’s the part thats obvious and resonates still that all can hear if they care to.
Its like walking through the snow covered woods where all sound is even muffled.
If you listen you might her a faint sigh on the wind.
If you listen closer you might even hear a child cry.
If you look down you might see a tiny hand dusted over with snow like a child’s dropped and forgotten doll.
If you stoop down and brush the snow aside it will turn to ashes and blow away like the children did so long ago.
They cried, “Ashes! Ashes!” and all blew away on the summer wind to be forgotten forever.
There were those that said the world would never forget but that was then.
They were wrong. The world has worked overtime to forget the lost ones that blew away like dandelion fluff in the wind.
They say, “It was all a lie made up by dirty Jews!” Even their own cousins deny the truth for fear there is something different inside them that’s so loathsome they deserve to turn to ashes and blow away to.
They are afraid to speak it as their blond hair blows in the wind. They are afraid to tell the truth for fear that the special one they love hates them to when they find out that under their blond hair, blue eyes, and pale white skin lies a dirty Jew.
You can see me. Even seeing me there are a special few that feel I should blow away on the wind to because of that hidden part of me inside that is also a dirty Jew. Even a dear friend gleefully told me to my face that if it were Jew killing time that I should die and she’s gladly comply. Well, she’d be right.
Anyway, we can say it doesn’t matter, but it does to. It matters the whole world that a generation blew away on the wind and always will even if we deny and forget.
When we are in the Synagog of nature and the trees laden with snow arch overhead hushing all the sounds save the laughter and tears of the ghosts in the ashes carried forever on the wind, They will always speak to that quiet space in our souls as their ashes float by us, That generation that turned to ashes and blew away so long ago.
They will never rest and will always blow. In quiet moments they’ll speak to the solitude of our souls.
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Millions of people were murdered by inflammatory, hateful words and that included a quarter of my family. Now I’m not Jewish but I’m among the closest living blood relatives to a whole lot of people that were and I owe them my voice.
I look and I see a younger generation that doesn’t care about that and just wants to move on. Who can blame them, after all we’re all mixed in with Scandinavians now and this young generation has blond hair and blue eyes and a prime spot on a winning team. It looks that way to me anyway seeing how hard the young ones are working to forget that chapter of losers that were so horrible they had to be murdered.
Its more than that to. There is this resurgence of denial and a tide of hatred rising. We mustn’t forget or let our guards down. We must always speak out even when we see respect turn to hate in people’s eyes over something immutable like DNA or merely just stepping out of the group of belonging as one of them. It hurts but we must when its called for. If we don’t then the generations to come will see millions more lives cut short by hate, It happens every day all around us. Its happening somewhere (lots of somewheres) right now.
